St Mawes Castle School Trip

English Heritage

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One of the best preserved of Henry VIII's coastal artillery fortresses, St Mawes was part of a chain of forts built in response to the threat of invasion from Catholic France and Spain. It was also garrisoned during the Napoleonic Wars and World War 2, and with all of this history represented at the site, there are plenty of learning opportunities to explore with your class.

Support your teaching in the classroom by stepping out of it. A visit to St Mawes Castle will help you bring learning to life, covering multiple topics across the curriculum and key stages.

KS1 History: Significant historical events, people and places in the locality

KS2 History: A local history study. A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066

KS2 Geography: Use geographical skills and fieldwork. Types of settlement and land use. Understand the strategic significance of the castle’s position

KS3 History: A local history study. The development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745. Ideas, political power, industry & empire: Britain 1745-1901. Challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day

KS3 Geography: Understand how human and physical processes interact to influence and change landscapes and how human activity relies on effective functioning of natural systems

Teacher Checklist

Inspection Visits
Free Places for Teachers
Resource Packs

What activities are available during educational visits?

Book a free self-led visit to St Mawes Castle and organise your day to suit your curriculum objectives. Enter the castle through the original guardhouse, and look out for the handgun loops in the walls and murder holes under the arch. Look down the "oubliette" in the gun tower, used for punishing prisoners, and explore the rooms in the castle keep, including the basement kitchen with a large fireplace and bread oven. Outside are various bastions and gun platforms, showing the different developments in the castle defences over time, including remains of Tudor gun platforms, cannons and the saluting battery.

You can also download our free teaching resources to help support learning before, during and after your visit

Which curriculum topics do we cater for?

Tudors School Trip

The Armada Henry VIII

Book a free self-led visit to St Mawes Castle and organise your day to suit your curriculum objectives. Explore the vital role that the castle played in the defense of England against the threat of the Armada, looking at the defensive features of St Mawes, like the Tudor gun platforms, cannons, and the saluting battery.

Twentieth Century School Trip

Book a free self-led visit to St Mawes Castle and organise your day to suit your curriculum objectives. Your students can learn about the changes in defensive features of a castle through time, from the Tudor period through to World War II, when the castle was garrisoned.

Human Geography School Trip

Settlement and land use

Book a free self-led visit to St Mawes Castle and organise your day to suit your curriculum objectives. Using the view from the castle over the port to Pendennis Castle, pupils can see how the natural environment has been used throughout history for strategic purposes, like defense.

Engineering

What size groups do we cater for?

There are generally no limits to the size of education group, provided the group meets our ratios for leaders to learners. Our Discovery Visit workshops are suitable for groups of up to 30. Please see our school visit terms and conditions on our website for further details.

On-site classroom facilities?

Many of our sites have education rooms that can be booked. Please check the relevant schools property page before making a booking.

Is there first aid on site?

Yes.

Access for visitors with disabilities

Yes – please see our website for further details.

Visitors with Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Our facilities have been designed to be as accessible as possible in order to meet the different needs of our visitors. A summary of the facilities provided can be found on our schools property pages.
If you or anyone in your group has particular access needs, please let us know at the point of booking or get in touch with our bookings team before you visit. Please note that some facilities may require booking in advance.

Who are English Heritage?

English Heritage cares for over 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites - from world-famous prehistoric sites to grand medieval castles, from Roman forts on the edges of the empire to a Cold War bunker. Through these, we bring the story of England to life for over 10 million people each year, over 300,000 of whom are education visitors.
We’re the largest heritage provider of school trips and provide a wealth of free educational resources, alongside expert-led, paid-for workshops for KS1-4. The high-quality of our education provision has been recognised most recently with a number of Sandford awards. Caring for our places and their collections, for the benefit of this and future generations is a cornerstone of everything we do.
We are a charity, no. 1140351, and a company, no. 07447221, registered in England.